U.S. Ships Military Assistance to Lebanese Army
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A shipment of weapons, ammunition, and equipment was delivered by the United States to the Lebanese army on Friday.
The assistance arrived at the Rafik Hariri International Airport and will be aimed at aiding the army in its combat of terrorism.
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale said on the occasion: “Support for the Lebanese army and other security services is a top priority for the U.S.”
“Lebanon asks, and America delivers,” he said.
“On August 2, extremists attacked the northeastern border town of Arsal and on August 3, I met with (Army chief) General Jean Qahwaji and asked what the U.S. could do to help,” he explained.
The U.S. moved quickly to supply the army with weapons and ammunition it asked for to secure Lebanon's borders and defeat extremists that threaten the country's security.
“Two weeks ago, I informed Premier Tammam Salam and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel that the American response would begin within weeks. And we kept that promise. This is just the latest in a series of deliveries that have arrived in the last 36 hours,” Hale stated.
“Yesterday: 480 anti-tank guided missiles, more than 500 M16-A4 rifles, and many mortars. Today: one thousand M16-A4 rifles,” he tweeted in the afternoon.
Soon, more mortars, grenade launchers, machine guns, and anti-tank weapons will be arriving, the ambassador said.
“Over the coming weeks, more ammunition and more heavy weaponry will be delivered from the United States to the Lebanese army,” he declared.
“Deliveries will be constant, just as our partnership with Lebanon has been constant over the years,” he continued.
“This weaponry and ordnance is paid for by the American people,” he added.
“My team and I are working very closely with the Army – on a daily basis – to ensure that we deliver exactly what the Army urgently needs,” continued Hale.
“To those who say American assistance to the Army is not sophisticated enough, my answer is: go ask a soldier in Arsal, or in Riyaq, or at the headquarters in Yarze, or at the countless other places where the army works to keep all Lebanese safe and secure. The answer you will get from that soldier is that he needs exactly what we are providing today and in the weeks to come,” Hale said.
“We are also discussing with the army how to meet additional needs, and I will have more to say about that soon,” he revealed.
On August 2, clashes broke out between the army and Islamist gunmen in Arsal over the arrest of a member of the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front.
The fighting ended with a ceasefire on August 7.
The development prompted the U.S. to pledged to bolster the army, while Saudi Arabia unveiled a grant of one billion dollars dedicated to the military.
M.T.
S.D.B.
29 August 2014, 16:56
00
so cute the syrian moukhabarat guy pretending to be a lebanese Cristhian whatever that is.
29 August 2014, 17:02
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cute another syrian moukhabarat guy pretending to be a lebanese Christian... Lmao!!
29 August 2014, 17:18
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same reaction from the m8 crowd as in 2007 with the US airlift during nahr el bared
29 August 2014, 17:24
00
It looks like Israel has finally approved arming the Lebanese Army with high-tech supersonic nuclear head-equipped Made in the US slingshots. 3alehom
29 August 2014, 17:37
36
It is not about that LEB, it is they try to hide their real intentions of not wanting the LAF armed. So, they ridicule KSA offer, Harriri's offer, and USA help. If the truth is staring them in they eye, they will deny it. They are paid to spread these ideas thinking the Lebanese and the world at large is reading their propaganda on here.
29 August 2014, 18:10
00
so well said Southern. I wish you would write the same objections when flamethrower, wolf, josephani, tom1, and many others use much worse adjectives.
29 August 2014, 19:04
24
Hmmmm, your tone sounds oddly familiar....reminds me of a certain someone who shall remain nameless.
29 August 2014, 18:38
14
HA had no place being in Syria which brought this onto Lebanon in the first place, secondly STOP USING LEBANON, and thirdly please keep your Karbala feuled bloodfest out of our country...and stop using the Army, Christians, Palestinians...oh yeah and take orders from Lebanon for once, not Iran.
29 August 2014, 19:03
00
OK first post guys: I am pro-lebanon, pro-west and pro-US.
NONETHELSS, this is a very cunning plan from the US:
Those weapons will surely find their way to the Hizz. Hizz will use them against I.S. and both extremes will nutralise each other. How about for a proxy war?
The US showed its card pro-shia (assad, hizetc...) and anti-sunna (qatar, saudi...) a couple of years ago.
And this last move is just a confirmation of that.
Flamethrower I hate your comments, but urge your people to make the best of these weapons in Syria.
29 August 2014, 20:13
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There you have it, after Southern fixed his Portuguese spellchecker proper English started flowing again
29 August 2014, 21:26
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Qawmi, the army did interne in 1958, in your failed coup of 1961, in 1968, in 1973 when the Maghaweer almost finished off the PLO terrorists but the Syrian tanks of Hafez Assad along the border threatened to invade if the operation did not stop, Frangieh acquiesced. In 1975 Karame refused to sign in with Frangieh and give the army the go ahead to intervene and Frangieh did not want to give the order on his own even though it was his constitutional prerogative, the rest is history.
*The Lebanese Arab Army and it's later offshoot was a joke mostly pro Syria Palestinians lead by a handful of Muslim Lebanese army defectors using seized Lebanese army equipment.
30 August 2014, 00:35
10
he started out not able to put two words together, now he forgets to misspell...
30 August 2014, 01:10
00
شكرًا أميركا
جيشنا بحاجة لمساعدة، أميركا ترسلها بدون طبل وزمر
هذا الشكر واجب ان أحببتها او كرهتها
30 August 2014, 01:19
01
Da3esh base is in Syria he was created by Assad to hit the revolution as divide and conquer.
30 August 2014, 02:44
03
John ! I can give you one of a thousand reasons.
Hizbollah wont be able to execute army officers the way they executed Samer Hanna
30 August 2014, 02:52
03
As per your comment about the army spliting!! Are you accusing the shia of being more loyal to their sect than the lebanese army?i mean michel aoun was kicked ou of the country ,samir geagea wen to.jail and the army did not split.Hariri was murdered ,saad was sent packing,the sunnis were attacked on 6th of May and the army did not split.now you are threatening that the army will split if the army try to tame hizbollah????
